Adalina
by Sanura Bey
Summary: Adalina, the second life of a modern bookworm, never expected what life handed to her. She never expected to become the younger sister of Belle. She never expected to have her past memories fade from her as she grew older. How can she see the love story that changed her life when she can't remember where it began?
1. Prologue

Once upon a time, in the hidden heart of France, a handsome young prince lived in a beautiful castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was selfish and unkind.

* * *

In his chambers, the prince was having his makeup applied for his large party to find a bride.

"Poof poof." the servant used the brush to apply the powder before blue shadow was added on and around his eyes.

"Master, it's time." the prince looked to his servant holding out a pocket watch and looked at the time.

* * *

He taxed the village to fill his castle with the most beautiful objects.

* * *

The prince nodded before motioning for another servant to bring the candelabra closer so he could inspect the makeup on his face.

* * *

And his parties with the most beautiful people.

* * *

The prince, from his throne, snapped his fingers for the music to begin. His soprano singer motioned to her husband to begin on the piano. Once the music began, the ladies on the dance floor bowed to him. He rose from his throne as they started dancing. He'd bounce from woman to woman as they danced.

Oh, how divine

Glamour, music, and magic combine

See the maidens so anxious to shine

Look for a sign that enhances chances

She'll be his special one

What a display

What a breathtaking, thrilling array

Every prince, every dog, has his day

Let us sing with passion, gusto, fit to bust

Oh, not a care in the world...

A sudden knocking from the door behind the throne broke through the festivities. They all looked to the door as it burst open making them all back away in fear. A bent over figure started towards them and a servant brought the prince a candle so he could see in the darkness.

* * *

Then one night, an unexpected intruder arrived at the castle, seeking shelter from the bitter storm.

* * *

The prince made his way to the bent over person to see an old, haggard woman.

* * *

As a gift, she offered the prince a single rose.

* * *

The woman held out her rose to him, and he laughed at her. He turned to the crowd behind him causing them all to laugh with him. He took the rose from her, looked at it then dropped it in front of her.

* * *

Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the person turned the woman away.

* * *

She looked from the rose to him.

* * *

But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances,

* * *

The light on his candle was blown out and he looked from it to her in confusion and fear.

* * *

for beauty is found within.

* * *

She reached for the rose before her, her hand glowing from under her robes.

* * *

When he dismissed her again, the old woman's outward appearance melted away. To reveal a beautiful enchantress.

* * *

The prince watched her as her with wide eyes as the old woman became a beautiful woman glowing gold with her gown flowing all around her. His court screamed in fear and began to run away as he fell to his knees. He looked behind him for support but there was no one except his servants.

* * *

The prince begged for forgiveness, but it was too late. For she had seen that there was no love in his heart.

* * *

"Chip! Chip! Oh, my!" A woman ran after her son as he ran to see what everyone else was running from. The woman held her son to her in fear at the glowing woman as she worked her magic. The Enchantress held the rose towards the prince to link her curse to it, binding him to its beauty.

* * *

As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast. And placed a powerful spell on the castle and all who lived there.

* * *

Slowly, the prince was turned into a beast and he ran from the room back to his chambers. A picture of his former beauty hung staring at him, reminding him what he'd become. He dug his new claws into the picture and ran them across the one who did this to him.

* * *

As days bled into years, the prince and his servants were forgotten by the world. For the enchantress had erased all memory of them from the minds of the people they loved. But the rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose. If he could learn to love another and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell the spell would be broken. If not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time.

* * *

In his chambers, years after becoming a beast, the prince stared at the rose enclosed in its glass case and placed his paw on the case.

* * *

As the years passed he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?

* * *

In another land, in another time, lived a girl who grew up on the stories she'd either created, watched or read. She'd thrived on these stories wishing she could be as strong as the heroes and heroines she'd seen on screen or in books she'd read. She was reading a book and walking to her job in the small town she grew up in when she suddenly heard someone screaming. She looked up to see a child staring in fear at the oncoming car, the child's mother was trying to make her way to him, her husband holding her back. The girl didn't even think before dropping her book and reaching for the child to pull him out of the way. The car, in an effort to avoid the child, swerved towards the sidewalk where the girl stood surrounded by people. People ran out of the way, but the girl, who'd already half been in the street, couldn't run in time. She stared in shock and fear as the white corvette barrelled towards her. She closed her eyes as the car's horn honked in warning before she saw a white light. She screamed and cried before finally opening her eyes to see a woman holding her out to someone. Most of the world was blurry but when the woman who'd been holding her arms out, at least that was what the girl assumed, held her with a tired smile on her face she stopped crying. Did she know this woman? A new face appeared behind the woman, a man smiling down on her holding a brunette girl.

"Look, Belle, this is your baby sister. It'll be your job to protect her from now on," he told the toddler in his arms as she stared at her with warm brown eyes. "What shall we call her?"

"Adelina."


	2. 4 Months Later

The first number of months were a blur to me. It also seemed as though my memories from my life before had started to fade. All my time and energy went into trying to control this new body, and I hadn't noticed until I tried to remember my youngest neices face and name. But why? Is this how it normall is? How man times have we been reborn and simply forgotten our past memories? How long would this continue to happen to us?

"Adelina," I turned my head towards this life's father, Maurice. I'd noticed his face had grown sadder recently, and our home had changed. My old memories tried pulling something about the woman who'd birthed me, but I couldn't recall what it was. I simply knew it was important. I tried to talk, resulting in baby coos, at my father as he lifted me from my basonet and stared down at my brown eyes with his hazel. "Come, shall we see what your sister is doing?" I tried to look around as he walked through the house. I couldn't recognize anything from the movie, having watched it nearly everyday since I was a child, but I couldn't see any simularities. He walked outside and the sun glared into my eyes as we walked towards where I'd assumed Bell was. I was only 4 months old, Belle was just over 1. It was hard to believe that I was less than a year younger than Belle. I'd studied the human body in my last life, I knew how it worked after giving birth. But, as they say, anything it possible. For every month I was alive as Adelina, I forgot who I was before. So, by that count, by the time I was 21 here, I'll have forgotten my entire life from before. Earlier probably because who really remembers being a baby at all.

"Belle, be careful!" Papa called out to my elder sister. I turned my head to see her brown hair bouncing as she moved around the small yard. I heard her laugh as she went before she ran back to us. Did she understand what had happened to Mama? Did she know that she... that something had happened to her that made Papa sad? I thought she did, but toddlers only know so much, just as babies aren't supposed to know as much as I did. At least I knew one thing I had to look forward too. I got to watch my sister and the prince fall in love. I couldn't contain the laughter that bubbled from my mouth that the happy thought. Papa wouldn't be sad forever. Papa looked down at me and smiled and I kicked my legs while pumping my arms. I sighed internally. There went all that control I'd been working on for the past four months, but it'd made Papa laugh. Maybe trying to have complete control was a bad thing to do right now. His laughter made me happy and I expressed that happiness as more coos, laughter and ridiculus movements.

"Papa!" He looked past me and I tried to follow his gaze, but I couldn't see that low. Papa sat down and I was able to see Belle looking at me with curiosity. I cood at her and she attempted to repeat the sound. Their are somethings only a baby can do, but that didn't stop her from trying. "Ade!"

"Very good, Belle." Papa praised making her face light up. I looked up at her, but her hair caught my attention. I don't know why, but I reached up and gave it good yank towards me. She swatted my hand away with tears in her eyes as she began to cry to Papa which caused me to cry. These simple baby emotions were going to hurt my adult brain! "She didn't mean it Belle, it's what babies do." Yea... thanks Papa...


	3. Small, Safe Town

People bursting into song was weird to me at first. People would sing when they needed to tell someone something important but wanted to keep it secret. As we walked down the street we'd hear people singing, see them dancing, but once the song was over we'd forgotten the song's words. Everone seemed to know the dance steps or the words needed to know when the song was going on. Weird didn't begin to cover it. When Papa moved us to Villeneuve I'd recently turned 14, Belle 15. France was on the brink of war. Papa moved us to this small village for safety from the war, but even that couldn't keep us in the dark. I've lost 14 years of memories from my previous life. Another 7 and I'd forget everything. I was worried about forgetting everything, but wouldn't that be better for this life? If I forgot everything from back then maybe I would be like everyone else? I couldn't help but let these thoughts fill my head as we traveled.

"Ada?" I turned to Belle as she watched me from between me and Papa. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about what our new home will be like," I lied.

"We'll have to get used to doing some things we didn't have to do in the city, but we will be together. And safe," Papa smiled at me and I returned it before going back to my thoughts. Belle then did her best to make sure we spent the rest of the trip smiling, talking, and laughing.

* * *

When we arrived at our new home, I stared up at the large house with the small bit of land we were going to farm on. I looked around at the people staring at us, whispering. We saw as we approached the village that it was smaller than what we'd been used to, but was that so bad? There was a woman sitting on some steps close to our new home, staring at us. She was dirtier than the others, her clothes old, worn and torn. She stared at us, as the others did, but there was something different in her eyes. Something I couldn't place.

"Adalina," I turned and followed my father and sister into the home, grabbing some of our things as I did. Inside the house looked larger than it had from the outside. The first area we'd walked into was a dining/living area where I could imagine Belle and I reading in front of the fireplace, the three of us eating dinner, or telling each other about our days. There was a door that led outside before an opening to the kitchen area. I placed the box I was holding down before going up the small set of stairs to the second floor. There were four rooms: three bedrooms and a bathroom. The largest rooms was Papa's while Bele and I would decide between ourselves who got the other two.

* * *

After we'd brought everything inside Belle and I cooked dinner together. After we'd eaten, we started unpacking everything and Belle and I chose our rooms. I'd chosen a room with a window overlooking the outside of the village. The village sat on top of a hill with a river surrounding the bottom of it. I stared outside, feeling as though something was pulling me somewhere, asking me something. Some kind of magic maybe?


	4. Belle and Adalina

Years later, Belle and I had a routine that established early on. I woke up and put on my red dress and brown boots that matched my sisters and picked up my book so I could return it.

"Good morning, Ada," I looked up and noticed Belle standing at the end of the hall.

"Good morning, Belle," I smiled at her before we walked downstairs together and left our small cottage.

 _"Little town, it's a quiet village,"_ Belle sang as we walked down the stairs. _"Every day like the one before."_

 _"Little town full of little people,"_ I added. _"Waking up to say..."_ The clock struck eight and everyone popped out of their homes and walking down the street.

 _"Bonjour."_

 _"Bonjour."_

 _"Bonjour."_

 _"Bonjour."_

 _"Bonjour."_

 _"There goes the baker with his tray, like always. The same old bread and rolls to sell,"_ Belle sang while buying a roll and placing it in her pocket.

 _"Every morning just the same, since the morning that we came to this poor provincial town,"_ I sang petting a horse with a smile on my face.

"Good morning, Belle, Adalina," Monsieur Jean greeted taking his hat off to greet us.

"Good morning, Monsieur Jean!" Belle greeted. "Have you lost something again?

"Well, I believe I have," he told her. "The problem is, I can't remember what!" Belle and I laughed at him before petting his donkey. "Oh well, I'm sure it will come to me. Where are the two of you off to?"

"To return these book to Pere Robert," I told him.

"They're about two lovers in fair Verona and a girl fighting to protect her family," Belle told him.

"Sound boring." I made a face at Belle and we just laughed before continuing on.

* * *

 _"Look there they go. Those girls are strange, no question."_ The schoolboys sang while walking into the building.

 _"Dazed and distracted can't you tell?"_ The schoolmaster asked. Belle and I hopped the rocks across a small pond before passing the other women and girl washing clothes.

 _"Never part of any crowd 'cause their heads up in some cloud."_ The older women sang.

 _"No denying they're a funny pair those girls!"_ The young girls added as we walked where they were folding their clothes.

* * *

 _"Bonjour, good day, how is your family?"_

 _"Bonjour, good day, how is your wife?"_

 _"I need six eggs. That's too expensive."_

 _"There must be more than this provincial life,"_ Belle and I sang before walking into the church.

"Ah, if it isn't the only bookworms in town," Pere Robert greeted. "So, where did you run off to this week?"

"Two cities in Northern Italy," Belle told him.

"I was in another world full of magic," I said grinning.

"We didn't want to come back," she told him. "Have you got any new places to go?" She turned to his small book collection and looked through it.

"I'm afraid not," he answered. "But you may reread any of the old ones if you like."

"Thank you." Belle took a different book and I swapped mine out for a new one.

"Your library makes our small corner of France feel bigger," I said.

"Bon voyage."

"Bye." And with that, we were walking away from the small church and made our way back home with our noses in the books.

 _"Look, there they go. The girls so peculiar."_

 _"I wonder if they're feeling well."_

"Good-bye."

" _With a dreamy far-off look,"_ I bought some jam from a vendor before we made our way to Agitha. _"And their nose stuck in a book. They're a puzzle to the rest of us, those girls."_

 _"Oh! Isn't this amazing!"_

 _"It's my favorite part because..."_

 _"You'll see. Here's where she meet Prince Charming."_

 _"But she won't discover that it's him till later on."_ I sang holding the book close to me.

 _"Now it's no wonder that her name means "beauty" and "noble". Their looks have got no parallel."_ The dressmaker sang walking out of her shop and staring after us like everyone else.

 _"But behind that fair facade, I'm afraid they're rather odd."_

 _"Very different from the rest of us,"_

 _"They're nothing like the rest of us,"_

 _"Yes, different from the rest of us are those girls!"_ We walked to Agitha and Belle handed her the bread.

"Here you go."

"Thank you," she said smiling at us. "No jam?" I smiled before pulling the jam out and giving it to her. Belle and I nodded at her before walking away with her watching us as we went.

* * *

Upon the hill above the village, two men were riding back home after a long hunting trip. The taller of the pair looking through a scope at the sister feeding the geese.

"Look at them LaFou," he told his oldest friend. "My future wife. Belle and her sister are the most beautiful girls in the village. That makes them the best. It would be improper for me to wed the younger. So, I shall protect her properly as her brother once Belle marries me."

"But they're so well read," LeFou reminded him. "And you're so... athletically inclined."

"I know," Gaston told his friend. "Belle can be as argumentative as she is beautiful." Gaston took the scope back from him.

"Exactly! Who needs her when you have us?" LeFou asked him.

"Yes," Gaston agreed. "But ever since the war, I've felt like I've been missing something. And they're the only girls that give me that sense of..."

"Je ne sais quoi?" LeFou asked him.

"I don't know what that means," Gaston said as they rode back into town.

* * *

 _"Right from the moment when I met them, saw them. I said they're gorgeous and I fell. Here in town, there's only they, who's as beautiful as me. So I'm making plans to woo and protect them."_ Gaston sang _._

 _"Look there he goes, isn't he dreamy. Monsieur Gaston, oh, he's so cute!"_ The triplets gushed. " _Be still, my heart. I'm hardly breathing. He's such a tall, dark, strong, and handsome brute!"_ Gaston's horse kicked mud on their dresses making them scream. Gaston gave them a look before walking into the village.

"It's never gonna happen, ladies," LeFou told them before joining his friend. Gaston moved to the fountain looking for the sisters as they walked through the people.

" _Bonjour."_

 _"Pardon."_

 _"Good day."_

 _"Maus, oui."_

 _"You call this bacon?"_

 _"What lovely flowers."_

 _"Some cheese."_

 _"Ten yards!"_

 _"One pound."_

 _"Scuse me!"_

 _"I'll get the knife."_

 _"Please let me through!"_

 _"This bread."_

 _"Those fish."_

 _"It's stale."_

 _"They smell."_

 _"Madame's mistaken."_

 _Well, maybe so."_

 _"There must be more than this provincial life!"_

 _"Just watch I'm going to make them my family!"_

 _"Look there they go. Those girls are strange but special. Two most peculiar mademoiselles. It's a pity and a sin. They don't quite fit in. But they're really are funy girls, beauties but funny girls. They really are funny girls! That Belle and Adalina!"_


	5. A Moment Can Change Everything

We started walking back home when Gaston called out to us.

"Belle! Adalina!" We shared a look before turning to him.

"Gaston, what a surprise," I sighed. Gaston gave me a confused look before turning back to Belle.

"Wonderful book you have there," Gaston said.

"Have you read it?" Belle asked surprised.

"Well, not that one," Gaston stumbled over his words, and I sighed. "But, you know, books." They both nodded while I tried not to laugh at him. He suddenly held up flowers for Belle. "For your dinner table. Shall I join you this evening?"

"Sorry, not this evening," Belle told him.

"Busy?" he asked her. She was about to answer when I stopped her.

"Yes," I answered. "Papa is going to the fair tonight, and we wanted to spend time together as a family of three." I grabbed Belle's arm, and we walked away from him. She sighed and shook her head. "He is quite the persistent one, isn't he?" I asked him.

"Maybe too persistent," she agreed.

"Surely he deserves some credit for trying, even if he's too stupid to take multiple no's as a clue that you're not interested."

"Ada!" she said shocked at my words. We heard music playing and shared a smile before going inside the house. I prepared him something to eat before we went to his art studio. While I took after Papa and painted and sketched my way through the world, when I wasn't reading, Belle invented things that would give us that time. We made our way quietly to Papa's art studio to listen to his song. The music box was a windmill with a woman holding two small children while a man panted her. Their surroundings showed they'd lived there, in that small attic, for some time.

 _How does a moment last forever?_

 _How can a story never die?_

 _It is love we must hold onto_

 _Never easy, but we try._

One the wall behind him was the actual picture he'd painted of our mother holding Belle and myself. In one of Belle's hands was a rose raddle she was holding above my head. I'd always wondered if she'd taunted me with it or she was trying to play with me. I'd never felt comfortable asking Papa. Next to us, on an easel, were pictures he'd drawn of us as children, but none of us as babies.

 _Sometimes our happiness is captured_

 _Somehow a time and place stand still_

 _Love lives on inside our hearts_

 _And always will._

Belle and I made ourselves known and moved over to him with his meal.

"Ah, Belle. Ada." Papa removed a piece of the music box to fix it with Belle at his side while I placed the plate next to them and started picking up the room. "Could you hand me the a..." He looked at Belle's hand to see her holding exactly what she needed. They shared a smile as he took the utensil for her. "Thank you." He repaired the piece before putting it down as she grabbed another. "Now I need the..." he looked down at the item. "No. No. No. Actually, yes, that's exactly what I need. Thank you." He took the item from her and placed it where it needed to be. I watched them work in sync and, honestly, felt a little jealous. Papa and I shared a love for art, but in moments like this, I felt like an outsider. I know both my father and sister love me dearly, we're all we had in this world, but they shared these moments that I'd never share. I shook my head and started putting things away in the room.

"Papa," Belle suddenly said. "Do you think we're odd?"

"Odd?" he asked her confused by her question. "My daughters? Odd? Where did you get a thing like that?"

"The villagers," I told him.

"People talk."

"This is a small village, you know," Papa reminded us. "Small minded as well. But, small also means safe. Even back in Paris, I knew a girl like the two of you, who was so ahead of her time. So different." I smiled at the knowledge we took after our mother. "People mocked her. Until the day they all found themselves imitating her."

"Please, just tell us one more thing about her," Belle begged him.

"Belle," I reprimanded her slightly. We had a silent agreement never to ask about our mother because we know how Papa felt.

"It's all right, Ada," he told me before turning to her. "Your mother was fearless. Fearless." He closed the closed the music box before packing it up.

* * *

After dinner, we helped him pack up the wagon with everything he was going to try and sell at the market and the music box. He'd never sell the music box, but he took it with him to listen to the music and keep his family close while he was away. Not to mention showcase what he can do to potential buyers. Once he was all packed up, he climbed into the seat with some trouble. Belle handed him the reins for Philip to him and place her hands on his knee, leaning on them. I wrapped my arm around her waist. Normally, one of us would go

"So, what can I bring you from the market?" he asked us.

"A rose," Belle answered.

"Like the one in the painting."

"You ask for that every year," he pointed out and we shared a smile.

"And every year you bring them," she reminded him. I had saved every rose he'd ever brought us. I'd dry them then press them in a book in order to save them all these years.

"Then I shall bring more." He cupped our faces and rubbed his thumb on our cheeks. "You have my word." We backed away from the wagon and shared goodbyes.

"Stay safe," I said before joining Belle on the steps to our home.

"Come on, Philip," Papa ordered, snapping Philip's reigns. "You know the way."

"We'll see you tomorrow!" Belle called out to him.

"Right," he agreed. "Tomorrow, with the roses."


	6. Forever can Spare a Minute

The next day, Belle and I were working in the garden when Philippe ran up to us. Alone.

"Philippe!" Belle called out, going to him. I took in the broken reins and knew whatever had happened, he'd been forced to leave Papa behind. I went to my horse, Ninette, and got ready to go to wherever Papa was. "What happened? Where's Papa? Take me to him!" Belle saddled up Philippe while I jumped on Ninette bareback and we rode off to where Philippe had left Papa.

* * *

To say I was confused by the snow would have been an understatement, but we didn't let that stop us as he rode the horses hard. We stopped at an unturned wagon and I jumped off to see the music box Papa would have never left willingly. I looked up at Belle worriedly before jumping back on Ninette, music box in hand, and we rode to a strange castle. The gardens would have been beautiful, I'm sure, if we'd given ourselves the time to properly look them over, but there was no time. We got to a set of stairs and jumped off the horses, Belle picking up a large stick before we climbed them to the door. Belle gently pushed the door open and we stood in the doorway staring at the castle within.

"Hello?" I called out as we walked inside quietly before hearing whispers.

"Who said that?" Belle called out, circling to where we heard the voices. "Who's there?" We walked to a clock and a candelabra, both of which had been beautifully designed. I was about to pick up the candelabra when we heard coughing bouncing off the walls. I picked it up without looking at it and lead the way to where we thought the coughing had come from. We came to a split in the stairs and looked both ways before following a second cough to the left. We climbed the stairs and quickly as we could.

"Papa?" Belle and I called out but heard nothing. We ran faster up the stairs before noticing what looked like a dungeon cell.

"Papa, is that you?" Belle asked him the person inside. She knelt down as I placed the candelabra on a ledge next to the bars. I smiled in relief at seeing Papa alive.

"Belle! Adalina!" He said in surprise at seeing us. "How did you find me?"

"Philippe came to us," I told him.

"Your hands are ice," Belle said taking one of his hand in hers as I did the same. Had he been here all night? "We need to get you home."

"Belle, you must take your sister and leave here at once!" he ordered her as we stood up again. "This castle is alive! Now go, before he finds you!"

"We aren't leaving without you!" I told him.

"Before who finds us?" Belle asked confused before we heard something growling close by. Belle grabbed my arm and pulled me behind her as she held the stick in front of her. "Who's there?" She asked moving away from me and Papa, who held onto my hands tightly. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" a gruff male voice asked. Was this the 'he' Papa was worried about?"

"We've come for our father," Belle told him.

"Your father is a thief."

"Liar!" I shouted at him which only made Papa's hands tighten on mine.

"He stole a rose."

"I asked for the rose," Belle told him not mentioning my own request for a rose. "Punish me, not him."

"No!" Papa shouted which made her look back at him. "He means forever."

"A life sentence for a rose?" I asked confused. "That's not a fair punishment."

"Apparently, that's what happens around here when you pick a flower." The man growled and we saw his shadow jump from one set of stairs to another closer to us. The movement caused Belle to back away and I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to us.

"I received eternal damnation for one," he told us and I stared at the shadow confused. "I'm merely locking him away. Now, do you still wish to take your father's place?"

"Come into the light," Belle ordered him. We watched his head look at us before looking away again. I grabbed the candelabra and shoved it in his face as gasped in shock and horror. The man wasn't a man at all. He was a beast with fur covering what we could see of him and horns protruding from his head. The one thing I could make out that seemed more like a man was crystal blue eyes showing nothing but anger at us.

"Choose."

"Belle, I won't let you do this," Papa told her before coughing again. He was obviously sick from being in this place with nothing to protect him from the elements. He wouldn't live long if he stayed here. "I lost your mother. I won't lose the two of you. Now, go. Go!" he coughed again and I thought about it for a moment.

"All right, Papa. I'll leave." I looked into Belle's face and knew she was lying. She was going to choose to stay in his place. "We need a minute along with him," she told the beast. He grunted his refusal and started walking away from us. "Are you so cold-hearted you won't allow daughters to kiss their father goodbye?" That made him pause.

"If this our last chance to see him, surely your forever can spare a mere moment," I said. He seemed to think about it before turning to us again. He walked towards us and Belle moved us back as he continued to do so. I hadn't noticed the small fangs resting on his lower lip until that moment. He stared down at us before reaching up and grabbing a lever and pulled it down opening the cell.

"When this door closes, it will not open again," he warned. Belle immediately moved into the cell and hugged Papa close to her.

"Thank you." I placed the candelabra on a second ledge before joining them. I'd noticed it was now Papa's back that now faced the cell doors. I hugged them both tightly and knew what I had to do. As they talked quietly, I went back out of the cell and turned to the beast. "I'll take his place."

"What did you say?" he seemed genuinely surprised by my words and I heard my sister and father stop talking.

"I'll take his place," I repeated. "I'll remain here while he and my sister return home. Safe and unharmed."

"Why would you do that?"

"They're my family." He moved closer to me as though trying to see if I'd take my words back if he frightened me enough. I was terrified of the beast in front of me, but I refused to back down. "You told my sister to choose, but I was never the option. I'm making my choice. And since my father only picked one rose you only need one prisoner." He stared into my brown eyes with his blue.

"You're a fool." He grabbed my arm and threw me in the cell before forcing them out and closing the door.

"Ada!" Belle shouted as he grabbed both her and Papa and dragged them away.

"No!" Papa shouted before they disappeared from my sight. I went to a large opening that dropped all the way to the bottom of the stairs in time to see him forcing Belle behind him and Papa thrown over his shoulder. "I'll come back! I promise!" I placed my forehead on the cold brick in front of me and did all I could to quiet my tears. I would never see my family again.


End file.
